Asafo AEDA “B” Basic School can be located at Agona Asafo in the Agona East District of the Central Region of Ghana. The main occupation of the people in this town is farming.
Since the establishment of the school in 1986, there has not been any major renovation. The school had remained in dire need of infrastructural development and basic amenities.
The teachers and students have lamented the lack of a toilet facility, computer laboratory, staff common room, potable water, and teaching aid which made it difficult for both pupils and teachers to experience a better learning environment.
According to the headmaster, Mr Justice Ninson, some members of JODi Constructions, such as the Human Resource Manager and Administrator, Mr Isaac Kojo Nti, visited the school in the first quarter of 2022 and were touched by the school’s plight, and pledged to help in whatever way they could.
This, according to the headmaster, sparked rays of hope and joy within him for he believed their prayers had finally been heard.
True to their words, the Myhelp-Yourhelp Foundation swung into action and embarked on a mission to renovate the school.
They mobilised resources and solicited donations from individuals and organisations to support the project. The foundation also partnered with Mr Nti who is a native of the town, to ensure the success of the project.
The undertaken renovation works include a six-unit classroom block, replacement of classroom doors, completion of design blocks, plastering of the building, painting the entire block, provision of whiteboards and markers, demarcation of classes 4, 5, and 6, connecting the school to the main Ghana Water Company supply line, and provision of a storage tank to store water.
The impact of the Myhelp-Yourhelp Foundation’s intervention was monumental. The chiefs, teaching staff, pupils, and town folk were excited to see the school transformed.
The excitement and applause that welcomed the bus that conveyed the members of the Foundation felt like a re-enactment of the triumphant entry of Jesus Christ from the Mt. of Olives into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday as captured by the Holy Bible.
It would not be out of place to create a proportional relationship between the love story of Easter and the gesture of the foundation in this Easter Festive season.
According to the headmaster, he cried on the day he was posted to this school as he wondered how the future leaders of this nation could be learning in such deplorable conditions.
“I have sought help from many quarters to no avail. Today I am very happy to see this beautiful edifice.”
He expressed his delight at the transformation of the school and the positive impact it will have on the pupils and teachers. He was hopeful that the school’s academic performance would improve significantly with the improved infrastructure and learning environment.
The population of the school has increased from 328 pupils to about 350 with a staff strength of 16 and one non-teaching staff.
He further sought the support of kind-hearted persons and corporate organizations to emulate the intervention of Myhelp-Yourhelp Foundation to assist them in the renovation of the school’s washroom which is on the verge of collapse, acquiring computers for their computer laboratory, and to construct a staff common room, among others.
He pronounced blessings from Deuteronomy 23 on the Myhelp-Yourhelp Foundation for coming to their rescue.
A JHS 2 pupil, Vera Asante, narrated how the intervention of the Foundation would eradicate some of the challenges they had been experiencing.
She mentioned they had in times past suffered interferences during lesson time as they had three sets of classes in the same hall without demarcation. Additionally, she mentioned that they had to walk for about 45 minutes to fetch water from the Ayensu River, which according to her was scary because there were times when some of her class and schoolmates fell into the river.
Also, she highlighted instances in which they had to paint their blackboards with battery acid so that they would be dark enough for pupils to see clearly when their teachers wrote on them. These activities, she claimed adversely affected the quality of education they were receiving and certainly, their grades.
But with the introduction of the momentous changes made, they were hopeful concentration would be better, and Vera was certain that she would pass her final exams with excellence.
Commissioning
The pupils of the Asafo AEDA ‘B’ Basic School welcomed and entertained their guests with cultural displays, cadet corps drills, poetry recitals, choreography, and a musical interlude by the school choir.
Mr. Isaac Kojo Nti, in his speech, recounted receiving a telephone call from a teacher in 2020 when he had returned home for the holidays, where the teacher explained the problems they faced in the school.
Mr Nti thought it wise to contact Myhelp-Yourhelp Foundation for having rolled out a similar project together in the past in Takyikrom.
“Our partnership in executing this project is a testament to the power of collaboration in achieving development goals. By leveraging the resources and expertise of both parties, we were able to successfully renovate the school and make a significant impact on the lives of the pupils and teachers. It takes a collective effort from individuals, organizations, and communities to bring about sustainable development in any society,” he said.
The Chairperson of the Ceremony who is also the chairperson of the School Management Committee (SMC) of Asafo AEDA Basic School, Mrs. Comfort Asare Baah, in her remarks, commended Myhelp-Yourhelp Foundation for such a humanitarian act.
She was beside herself with joy as she recounted the numerous times they have sought help.
She called on the PTA to be hopeful and expect more transformation soon. She prayed that the pupils of the school will see great improvements in their examination grades.
The chief of the town, Nana Takyi Korkor, handled the commissioning of the Renovated Classroom block. He called on well-to-do indigenes of the town to retrace their roots and support the community.
According to Mr. Nicholas Cofie, the president of the Myhelp-Yourhelp Foundation, they considered this project for their 2023 Easter project, as it aligns with the foundation’s core mandate of provision of clean water and sanitation and providing basic skills and quality education to the less privileged and the needy in society, synchronized with the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG GOALS).
About Myhelp-Yourhelp Foundation
Myhelp-Yourhelp Foundation is a Non-Profit Organization (NPO) made up of working-class professionals (bankers, doctors, nurses, lecturers, security officers, engineers, entrepreneurs, etc.) who have come together to pool resources to help alleviate the plight of the poor, needy, and less privileged in society.
This is done by the mobilization of funds both internally (contributions from members) and externally (getting sponsorship from organizations, benevolent individuals, and philanthropists).
The NPO focuses on inspiring and empowering orphans, street children, and the vulnerable in society, with the aim of improving their socio-economic status. Hence the slogan “Myhelp-Yourhelp Foundation!!! Caring for the Needy and Less Privileged in Society”
According to Mr. Cofie, the NPO was established on March 21, 2018, at Adenta in Accra, purposely to help the needy and less privileged in society, explaining that growing up as an orphan himself motivated him to establish the foundation to assist others.
The foundation, celebrating its fifth anniversary this year and prior to the project held over the Easter weekend, has successfully undertaken 14 projects.
In his closing remarks, Mr. Nicholas Cofie, on behalf of the leadership of the foundation, expressed his gratitude to the entire team for their dedication to showing love to the deprived and less privileged in society. He thanked the team for sacrificing their time and finances. He also appreciated all who earnestly prayed for the success of the program.
He said the Foundation is unable to execute as many projects as they would have wanted to. This is because the main source of funding for the foundation is the contributions of its members. But he believed the statement by Hudson Taylor that, “God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply”.
He further applauded Mr Nti, and all others who supported this mission in cash or kind.
